Governor Announces Support to Give Baker Furniture Plant New Life

Mixed-Use Development to Provide Housing, Retail Opportunities

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm announced today that the former Baker Furniture manufacturing plant in Holland will be cleaned up and converted into a mixed-use residential and commercial development, thanks to a brownfield Single Business Tax credit and state and local tax capture totaling more than $3.4 million approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The project is expected to generate more than $14 million in private investment and create up to 30 new jobs.

"Michigan's west coast is one of the most beautiful and attractive locations in the nation-bar none," Granholm said. "The incentives approved today will help bring this challenged Holland property up to the level where it will not only be useable, but a great asset to the community."

Baker Lofts LLC will use a $1.4 million brownfield Single Business Tax credit and state and local tax capture valued at more than $2 million to redevelop the former Baker Furniture manufacturing facility. The developer will invest $14 million to renovate and restore the historic 220,000-square-foot building located at the corner of Columbia Avenue and East 24th Street. Approximately 40,000 square feet will be dedicated to commercial/retail uses, and the remaining space converted into 160 residential rental units. The project is expected to create 30 new jobs.

"This project is a clear indication of how the state's brownfield redevelopment program successfully encourages and secures local public and private collaborations necessary to drive urban redevelopment," Holland Mayor Albert McGeehan said. "The city of Holland could have been left with a tired and run down vacant industrial site, had it not been for just the right financial incentives and the brownfield statutes which together have made this project a reality. Holland thanks the state of Michigan, the MEDC and Bosgraaf Builders for their commitment to this neighborhood and this community."

"Finding new uses for blighted industrial properties is essential to sustaining a healthy and dynamic economy throughout the state," MEDC President and CEO Don Jakeway said. "Michigan's brownfield redevelopment program offers creative ways to convert these often dangerous and contaminated sites into beneficial, tax-generating properties."

In her 2005 State of the State address, Granholm emphasized the importance of making Michigan a global economic powerhouse in the 21st century. In the past 12 months the Governor and the MEDC announced the creation or retention of more than 80,423 jobs as a result of targeted assistance provided by the MEDC.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a partnership between the state and local communities, promotes smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to create and retain good jobs and a high quality of life.